diet coke cakes
I heard about this idea a while ago – making a low fat cake from a packet of cake mix by replacing the usual added ingredients (water, eggs, oil) with a can of diet carbonated beverage of choice. So tonight I tried it out for myself.
Ingredients:
- 1 packet cake mix (I used Dr. Oetker Added Touch Chocolate Cake Mix)
- 1 can diet cola (my preference is Diet Pepsi)
That’s it! Mix and bake for the time and temperature given on the cake mix packet. I used half the packet of cake mix and half a can of Diet Pepsi (so I wouldn’t waste as much if the recipe was a disaster) and it made 9 cupcakes (baked in a muffin pan pre-greased with spray oil). I baked them for 20 mins at 350°F (180°C) et voila:
Mmm, cake…
I am pleasantly surprised: it looks just like regular cake and the texture is light and moist. The flavour is a little different from a regular chocolate cake, but it is GOOD. And considering that the finished cakes have 100 calories each and less than 1g of fat, it’s amazing.
You can use any flavour of cake mix and any flavour of diet soda – I think lemon or golden cake with diet 7-up would work well. And if you iced them they’d be even better.
Verdict: quick, easy, good value, yummy, AND not too sinful!
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Julie said
I want to post an update on my experience with this recipe. I made it last night for my dad’s birthday dinner and everyone loved it!
I used diet coke and it turned out great. The texture is a bit thicker than it is using the original boxed cake ingredients, which is a definite plus to me. It was also very moist.
There was one con, however, that I think people should know about if they are to try out this recipe.
1) it was super thick upon mixing the cake mix and coke. I had to scrape it off the beater and it was quite sticky. I don’t think u could have simply stirred it because Of how thick it was. Adding a little water might help but I didn’t think to do so at the time. Originally I had wanted to use two 8 inch cake pans but I couldn’t spread the batter around the pan. It just kept sticking to the spoon. And I couldn’t pour it into the pans. I had to scoop the batter out of the mixing bowl, into the pan.
Although, it was a bit of a pain, I think lithe thickness is what made the finished product so good. The cake didn’t crumble when icing it and it was very easy to work with as it wasn’t too fragile.
Overall, it was really a great cake and I’ll definitely be making it in the future! 🙂
Julie said
So excited to try this!!
Sheryl Tilley said
Try this one — mix together these two ingredients:
1 box of dry angel food cake mix and
1 can of cherry pie filling.
Don’t add anything else that it says to on the box — just the dry cake mix and the cherry pie filling. That’s it.
Put into a greased pan that is the next size LARGER than a 13 x 9. It will raise up quickly so I always put some aluminum foil down in the oven in case it goes over a little.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
This is FAT-FREE!
Saleemah said
This question is for Sheryl Tilley: What size of bake pan should I use for your angel food + cherry pie filling recipe? I’m trying to figure out what is the next size larger than 13 x 9? Can’t wait to try the recipe!
Thanks!
patricia said
THESE WERE SO EASY AND MY GRANDCHILDREN LOVED THEM.NEXT I’M GOING TO PLAY AROUND WITH DIFFERANT SODAS AND CAKE MIXES.
Diana said
June- I just posted this diet coke cake recipe to my FB page along with your blog link. This is a recipe that should be shared – diet and chocolate – who knew!
Peace and joy…
Diana
The Green Girl
June said
Anon, your comment concerned me, so I did a little research of my own. It appears that the reason aspartame it not always suitable for baking is that the breakdown you mention will cause a lack of sweetness (so no danger there).
Also, this breakdown into aspartic acid, phenylalanine and methanol will ocur in the body anyway, during digestion!
From aspartame.org:
“Upon digestion, aspartame breaks down into three components (aspartic acid, phenylalanine and methanol), which are then absorbed into the blood and used in normal body processes. Neither aspartame nor its components accumulate in the body. These components are used in the body in the same ways as when they are derived from common foods.
Further, the amounts of these components from aspartame are small compared to the amounts from other food sources. For example, a serving of nonfat milk provides about 6 times more phenylalanine and 13 times more aspartic acid compared to an equivalent amount of diet beverage sweetened 100% with aspartame. Likewise, a serving of tomato juice provides about 6 times more methanol compared to an equivalent amount of diet beverage with aspartame.”
So if you’re going to eat food/drink containing aspartame, it’s just as safe to eat it after heating it. If you’re concerned, you should avoid diet soda altogether. Personally, I’m going to stick with my Diet Pepsi 🙂
anon said
this is not a good idea since diet drinks contain Aspartame/Nutrasweet and when they get heated up above 86 degrees it brakes up in to Aspartic Acid , Phenylalanine and Methanol witch is poisonous!
cindy said
I’m ging to use a carrot cake mix and top with fat free cheesecake pudding and lite cool whip. Bet its gonna be good
June said
Doug: yes! It should work with any soda and box cake mix 🙂
Doug said
Would it work with normal Coca Cola too? and say… Betty Crocker’s Devils Food cake mix?
Mary said
We love to mix white cake mix w/the soda and top w/a can of peaches…. yum!!!
Amanda said
Well, I tried it and… A-MAZING.
Robyn said
My fave soda is Mt. Dew and I saw a recipe for Mt. Dew cake where you do the same thing but use either lemon or orange cake mix and a can of Dew. haven’t tried it but if you do let me know. I think it would be yummy.I think it might taste better with lemon cakemix since there is no orange flavor in Dew.
June said
The ‘serving size’ on the box is larger than one cupcake. With the mix I used, it worked out to 100 calories per cupcake – it’s probably about the same for any box mix.
Deb said
“the mix only contains 180 calories, and I got 18 cupcakes, so with the soda its only 10 calories each”
Ah, no. Hate to burst your bubble, but that’s 180 calories PER SERVING, not for the entire cake mix. READ YOUR LABELS!!
Cassie said
I tried it with yellow cake and diet orange soda and it was delicious! And according to the box, the mix only contains 180 calories, and I got 18 cupcakes, so with the soda its only 10 calories each! You can’t get much better than that.
Patricia G said
I think a diet strawberry soda would be good with a white or strawberry cake!!!
June said
Ooh, thank you for these suggestions, ladies! They sound yummy. Anyone got any more tips? Please leave a comment and share them!
natasha said
i am going to have to try this…you can also use applesauce in any recipe in place of the oil, the only time these subs are issues are if you want it to be crispy, like a cookie.
Amy said
White cake made with diet orange pop, and topped with lite whipped cream is also really delicious! Tates like an orange creamsicle.
Jeanna said
Top this cake with a single serving package of sugar free hot chocolate mixed in a tub of fat free cool whip! Delicious, not too sweet, and still low fat!